Eng 105 Handout 1+ HW (Style, Tone, Register, Formal Language) PDF

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English 105 Business English Style/Register of Language

Instructor: ___________________ Dated:

Summary: This handout will discuss what constitutes Business English, describe Style Tone and Register of everyday language and provide sample exam questions for practice Name_______________________________________ID________________ Section_____ The difference between Business English and the English you've been learning for the past eight years lies primarily in the vocabulary (register) and in style (formality). In this introductory session we will be discussing what these two things mean.

1. Consider the situations pictured below, in which a man calls on his bank manager to ask for a personal loan. (They have never met before.) Then, in a small group, discuss and answer the questions below.

a) How is the language the customer uses different in the two pictures? (Give examples.) In the first picture – the customer is using an informal language. Example: “I’ve just popped in to see if you could let me have some money” Second picture – He starts with a formal introduction “good morning” which is absent in the first picture. And he is also using a formal register to describe the condition of his car. b) What other differences are there in the way he presents himself (non-verbal communication), and what effect do they have?

Business English 105 Introduction Handout

He is seated in a presentable manner in the second picture with a polite smile which shows respect and formality. And the first picture, he is not only standing but leaning towards the table which shows disrespect and informality.

Business English 105 Introduction Handout

Register All register really refers to is the type or variety of English used for a particular purpose, such as financial English, computer English, scientific or legal English, and general business English. They are like dialects, but the divisions between people who use them are due to profession or education rather than geography. All these different registers of English are both spoken and written. One of the difficulties at your level of English -- now that you have a grasp of the main structures, a reasonable vocabulary and a rough idea of how to pronounce most words that you come across -- is choosing the right register to speak or write in. If you get the register wrong, you run the risk of sounding less knowledgeable or competent than you are. You could make a less than favorable impression, or you could even run the risk of offending someone. 2. The following sentences are examples of inappropriate register. Compare the situation to the statements, decide what is wrong with the register (e.g. too technical, too impersonal . . .) and then rewrite the sentence to make it more fitting to the situation. a) Husband speaking to his wife in the kitchen: "The performance of this recently acquired gas-powered cooking apparatus falls far below expectation." Too technical. “The new gas-powered stove isn’t as good as I had expected it to be” b) Candidate saying goodbye to a professor at the end of an oral exam: "Bye bye honey, and thanks a lot. It was great talkin' to ya." Too informal. “Thankyou so much sir. It was lovely talking to you. Goodbye.” c) A somewhat sloppy waitress in a café, talking to a customer: "I am really most frightfully sorry, but I'm afraid there's absolutely no soup left." Too formal. “I am really sorry but I’m afraid we have run out of soup.” d) A stock broker advising a client on an investment: "Drop a few bucks into IBM - they're a sure thing." Too informal. “Invest into IBM, they are a sure investment.” e) A factory worker telling a co-worker why he won't get an advance: "As your gross weekly income falls below the minimum required level, you are not entitled to an advance on salary." Too technical. “You haven’t worked enough this week, you won’t be getting an advance on your salary.” f) The CEO of a corporation congratulating a marketing executive: "Who's a clever boy!" Too informal. “Congratulations!” g) A man explaining to a banker why he needs to increase his overdraft: "I'm drifting into economic chaos; last month I had a payments deficit of $300." This is ok. h) A young woman trying to convince her boyfriend that what she says is true: Business English 105 Introduction Handout

"To the best of my knowledge and belief, the particulars I have given you are complete and correct." Too formal. “I am telling you the truth that I know.”

Business English 105 Introduction Handout

Style/Formal and Informal Language Language style simply put, is the level of formality, politeness, and personal distance you use when you express yourself. Legal English, for example, is almost always formal and impersonal in style. At the other extreme is slang, which is generally only used in personal relationships (and pop music.) Extreme forms of slang are often accompanied by gestures, noises, and swear words. Look at the examples of different styles below, and then try the exercise. Very formal:

Attention. Visitors who wish to see the final performance of the film "My Word is My Bond" should make their way to the cinema on the first floor by way of the right staircase.

Impersonal / Formal:

To see the film, visitors should go up the stairs on the right to the cinema.

Polite:

Would you mind going up the stairs, please? The film will begin in a few minutes.

Casual / Friendly:

It's time you all went up to the cinema now. The film is just about to start.

Colloquial:

Time to get going. The film's starting.

Slang / Rude:

Get a move on! The film's starting.

3. Identify the style of the sentences below and then rewrite them in the style stated: (a) If you could possibly lend me $5 until the end of the week, I'd be extremely grateful. (Change to: Informal) (b) You're not supposed to give the lion's food. (Change to: Formal) (c) Passengers are advised to stand back from the doors as injury could otherwise result. (Change to: Informal) (d) Dude! Stop hogging that and gimme me the sugar. (Change to: Formal) (e) If you would kindly seat yourselves at the table, dinner will be served directly. (Change to: Formal) (f) This concert is a total ripoff, there’s not a hope in hell of getting your money’s worth with these terrible bands playing. (Change to: Formal)

Business English 105 Introduction Handout

(II) The language of the sentences below is inappropriate. Either the style is wrong or the register/formality is incorrect. Re-write these sentences in BUSINESS ENGLISH making any changes you need to keep the meaning.

A Doctor talking to Mr. Hannan, his patient: Yeah, so, dude, you broke like, three pieces of the humerus bone on your arm, and its going to be set in those cast things, cause you totally need to keep the arm like, not moving, yeah, umm.. keep it immobile, I guess you could say. ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ One colleague to another colleague: “It's obvious that the office environment is now bad because of the new girl’s issues. She is a whiner, she is always nagging about others. It’s always about stupid stuff too, like what someone said to her in the lift. I really hate her!” ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________

An Advertising agency executive, discussing a new client: “I think that the new client is just a strange guy. As he can’t guide us on the new ad campaign, we should leave him out of our plans. He doesn’t know how to sell his own product, can you imagine how dumb he is? If the maker isn’t sure about a product’s good points, how can us advertising guys sell it?” ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ One client referring a law firm to another: “I made a lot of illegal deals and bank loans over the last 5 years, but Rahim Law Firm took care of all my corruption and bribing legal work. If you have money you need to hide in some account outside the country, they are the best for illegal, corrupt activities. Go to them to get help hiding your blackmarket money!” ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ Business English 105 Introduction Handout

One worker requesting help from his colleague: “Can you stop being distracted with online surfing and facebook actually help me with this project? You know that the boss gave both of us this work to do, right? Are you going to help me or are you going to be lazy and just not do your job?” ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT # 1 (due next class)_ Read the letter given below, between a parent and the school principal about a littering issue on school playgrounds. Re-write the entire letter using formal language to correct: Yo! Mr Sexton, Steve! My friend! How’s things? I’m not all that happy, TBH. It’s totally an issue for me, and I reckoned letting you know what’s bugging me is the best thing for me, so I sat down and wrote asap to get you on the same page as me, you know, about the stuff I’m real upset on. In a nutshell, my headache is the litter on the school playground that’s been a nightmare for us to deal with. I am writing to complain about the state of the playground where my kids hang out every day. Over the last two weeks, I’ve been noticing loads of rubbish and crap and totally unsafe stuff lying around that random littleplay area for the kids. I guess this litter is a health hazard. For example, yesterday a year 4 boy fell over and cut his hand on a broken bottle. The boy I’m talking about needed four stitches, the poor kid was bawling and crying his eyes out and my wife was real angry as our own kid could have been hurt, too you know? It’s too bad. On top of this, the litter is UGLY. Our school has such awesome, totally beautiful views of the river and that’s, like ruined by the stuff everywhere. I mean, man, honestly, it’s not a good look for the school.I reckon there are about a hundred things that you could do, if you got interested to fix this problem. If you deal with the small stuff you’ll be surprised at how the big stuff just goes away as big issues. Firstly, I’d say it’s a good idea to purchase additional litterbins. You should think about this, and get in touch with me cause I have a good deal on these and I’d set you up with a sweet price for them. This would stop random ppl from tossing their garbage willy-nilly. What’s more, I think that our school is dying to get a better security guy or even,like, a team of trained dudes to prevent all those evil, horrible vandals from littering and leaving dangerous stuff for the kids to trip over or cut their little paws on. To finish, I hope you will take my concerns seriously. I hope you’ll be awesome and shout back and drop me a line to put me in the picture on what you guys decide on re. this situation. Love to your family/kids! Thanks a lot dude! Micheal (Mike) Kingston Business English 105 Introduction Handout...